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I am male, over-50, and live in the NYC metropolitan area. I would describe myself as politically and spiritually preoccupied.
I believe we (the human race) have arrived at a pivotal point in world history.
I also believe that while good and evil must always exist side-by-side, there are currently divine forces afoot which will dramatically change the current configuration.
I believe each of us is obliged to do our share in epediting the inevitable.
No matter what they say, Noam Chomsky is the current authority on secular matters, and should be read by every individual who believes that political reality is too complex/subtle to understand..
It's not.
Finally, I believe the secret of life is human action borne of conscience, meditation, service to humanity, and simply behaving appropriately, while not allowing oneself to be an out and out doormat. Practicing Ramana Maharshi's "Who Am I?" Self-Inquiry is the quickest way to salvation, self-realization, whatever you may call it. But generally this must be practiced only after many years of prepatory spiritual disciplines; such as repetition of the Name of God...
I'll add other stuff if and when it occurs to me to do so...
:)
Thursday, February 9, 2012 24 Gurus (1 comments)
Here is the classic exchange between a wandering King and a very young, but very wise Sage.
The text is from a great spiritual classic called, "Srimad Bhagavatam", which is as well-known in India as the Bible is here.
Someone once said about Buddhism: "It's easy to understand, but virtually impossible to accomplish."
This I believe is true. Even if one is among the very few who even wish to...
Thursday, February 2, 2012 "Late Bloomers" by Malcolm Gladwell
Malcolm Gladwell goes into some detail in this 2008 "New Yorker" piece about the myth of precocity among many geniuses, and the reality that many actually produced some of their best work relatively late in life...
Thursday, December 15, 2011 US Census Shows Half of All Americans Now Poor or Low-Income (4 comments)
Squeezed by rising living costs, a record number of Americans -- nearly 1 in 2 -- have fallen into poverty or are scraping by on earnings that classify them as low income.
The latest census data depict a middle class that's shrinking as unemployment stays high and the government's safety net frays. The new numbers follow years of stagnating wages for the middle class that have hurt millions of workers and families.
Tuesday, December 13, 2011 NY Times: 100 Million Americans Either in Poverty or "in the Fretful Zone Just Above It."
The Census Bureau, which published the poverty data two weeks ago, produced the analysis of those with somewhat higher income at the request of The New York Times. The size of the near-poor population took even the bureau's number crunchers by surprise.
"These numbers are higher than we anticipated," said Trudi J. Renwick, the bureau's chief poverty statistician. "There are more people struggling than the official numbers show."
Monday, December 12, 2011 WalMart Heirs Have Same Net Worth As the Bottom 30 Percent Of Americans
Income inequality in the U.S. is currently the highest its been since the 1920s, with the 400 richest Americans (who are all billionaires) having as much wealth as the bottom 50 percent of Americans combined. And as it turns out, just one wealthy family has managed to amass a fortune equal to that of the combined net worth of the bottom 30 percent of Americans -- the Waltons, heirs to the WalMart fortune, as Sylvia Allegretto, a labor economist at the Center on Wage and Employment Dynamics, found:
Monday, December 5, 2011 One in Every Three Americans is Now Considered Either Poor or "Near Poor"
"One in every three Americans is now considered either poor or "near poor," according to recent census data; that is, 49.1 million Americans are below the poverty line and another 51 million perilously close to it. This, of course, represents a significant increase in downward mobility. According to the New York Times, "over half of the near poor in the new tally actually fell into that group from higher income levels as their resources were sapped by medical expenses, taxes, work-related costs and other unavoidable outlays."
Thursday, December 1, 2011 The 3 Steps to God (9 comments)
"The first school I will tell you about is styled the dualistic school. The dualists believe that God, who is the creator of the universe and its ruler, is eternally separate from nature, eternally separate from the human soul. God is eternal; nature is eternal; so are all souls. Nature and the souls become manifested and change, but God remains the same. According to the dualists, again, this God is personal in that He has qualities, not that He has a body. He has human attributes; He is merciful, He is just, He is powerful, He is almighty, He can be approached, He can be prayed to, He can be loved, He loves in return, and so forth. In one word, He is a human God, only infinitely greater than man; He has none of the evil qualities which men have. "He is the repository of an infinite number of blessed qualities" -- that is their definition."
Sunday, November 27, 2011 The Ongoing Saga of Arianna Huffington
Atop AOL, hiring and borrowing freely from the old media, a new age news guru is building her grandest temple yet.
Saturday, October 22, 2011 Samuel Beckett's Reading List
Samuel Beckett's letters are full of the literary names he encountered through his work: authors he wrote about (Proust), poets he translated (Apollinaire), peers he monitored (Ionesco), and predecessors he admired (Joyce). But, in his non-professional life, Beckett was also an avid reader, discussing his favorite reads (and not-so-favorite) with many of his correspondents.
What did Beckett read in his spare time? These mentions from The Letters of Samuel Beckett, Volume 2 (published today!) shed some light on what was on the writer's nightstand during the period from 1941 to 1956.
Sunday, October 16, 2011 Webcast from the Center for Courage & Renewal
I've always wondered why Webcasts have not been used as a strategy to circumvent the mainstream media. This is an interesting experiment in doing just that. I hope this encourages us all to find ways to utilize webcasts in many different ways....
Sunday, October 16, 2011 Utne's 25 Visionaries Who Are Changing Your World... Who Are Yours? (10 comments)
I thought it interesting that I'd heard of precious few of these people.
Please list in the comments section at least 10 or so of whom you'd rate among your favorite Americans....
Friday, August 19, 2011 "The Authentic Spiritual Life: A Tribute to Hal Honig" By Dr. Bernie Starr
Selfless service is a core spiritual practice embraced by all spiritual traditions. Not surprising since authentic selfless service is one of the best barometers of ego transcendence--it erases differences and embraces the principle of oneness, which is essential for the highest spiritual attainment.
No one exemplified selfless service more than my friend Hal Honig.
Tuesday, August 9, 2011 Noam Chomsky: "America in Decline"
"It is a common theme" that the United States, which "only a few years ago was hailed to stride the world as a colossus with unparalleled power and unmatched appeal is in decline, ominously facing the prospect of its final decay," Giacomo Chiozza writes in the current Political Science Quarterly.
Saturday, July 30, 2011 Guardian Interview with Author Jonathan Franzen (1 comments)
very interesting interview the American novelist du jour...
So... it looks like if one wants to be a seriously writer these days, one has to be willing to take the Ethernet chip out of one's computer, put on headphones over the earplugs (to shut out the noise), and (ideally) blindfold one's self before sitting down at the typewriter....
Monday, June 20, 2011 Jon Stewart Interviewed on Fox News
The Daily Show's Jon Stewart entered the proverbial lion's den, appearing live on Fox News Sunday to debate "media bias" with host Chris Wallace.
Early in the interview, Wallace flashed a previous quote of Stewart's calling Fox News a "relentless agenda-driven 24 hour news opinion propaganda delivery system," and asked Stewart, "Where do you come up with this stuff?"
Stewart responded, "Uh, it's actually quite easy."
Thursday, June 16, 2011 TV Watching Linked to Major Health Issues (1 comments)
Watching television for two to three hours or more per day is linked to significantly higher risks of developing diabetes and heart disease and dying from all causes, according to a new analysis from the Harvard School of Public Health.
Noting that Americans watch an average of about five hours of TV per day -- the most common daily activity aside from working and sleeping -- researchers analyzed data from eight studies done between 1970 and 2011 on the association between TV viewing and incidence of type 2 diabetes, fatal or nonfatal cardiovascular disease and all-cause mortality.
Wednesday, June 15, 2011 Meet Chito's 17' Long Pet Crocodile
Chito made friends with the croc after finding him with a gunshot wound on the banks of the Central American state's Parismina river 20 years ago. He had been shot in the left eye by a cattle farmer and was close to death. But Chito enlisted the help of several pals to load the massive reptile into his boat.
He says: "When I found Pocho in the river he was dying, so I brought him into my house.
"He was very skinny, weighing only around 150 lb. I gave him chicken and fish and medicine for six months to help him recover.
Wednesday, June 15, 2011 Overcoming Despair as the Republicans Take Over: A Conversation with Noam Chomsky & Michael Lerner
Michael Lerner: You have made many excellent analyses of the power of global capital and its capacity to undermine ordinary citizens' efforts to transform the global reality toward a more humane and generous world. If there were a serious movement in the U.S. ready to challenge global capital, what should such a movement do? Or is it, as many believe, hopeless, given the power of capital to control the media, undermine democratic movements, and use the police/military power and the co-optive power of mass entertainment, endless spectacle, and financial compensations for many of the smartest people coming up through working-class and middle-income routes? What path is rational for a movement seeking to build a world of environmental sanity, social justice, and peace, yet facing such a sophisticated, powerful, and well-organized social order?
Monday, June 13, 2011 The Atlantic: "The Rise of the New Global Elite"
F. Scott Fitzgerald was right when he declared the rich different from you and me. But today's super-rich are also different from yesterday's: more hardworking and meritocratic, but less connected to the nations that granted them opportunity--and the countrymen they are leaving ever further behind.
Monday, June 13, 2011 Bill Moyers on the State of the Union
Bill Moyers examines the deteriorating and increasingly corrupt state of affairs that our government has devolved into and the accompanying divisiveness sweeping the country. Is there hope for things to improve? For the first time in his life, Moyers isn't optimistic.
Sunday, June 12, 2011 Man Lifts 3700 Pound Minivan to Save Neighbor
Michigan resident Mike Treciak was able to summon superhero-like strength when his neighbor, Timothy Kirkland, got trapped under his 3,700-pound minivan.
Friday, June 10, 2011 Nearly Half of Americans Believe Another Great Depression Is Likely
Despite rosy financial forecasts made by economists this spring, our fears that the nation is about to sink into another depression are reaching depressing extremes. A new CNN poll reveals that nearly half of Americans believe a 1930s-scale depression is possible within the next 12 months. A whopping 19% of Americans believe it's "very likely" -- the most since the economy tanked in the fall of 2008. An additional 29% said a depression is "somewhat likely." If we use the original Great Depression as a model, that means many of us are pondering 25% unemployment and rampant homelessness.
Wednesday, June 8, 2011 Keith Olbermann Breaks Silence On MSNBC Exit
For the new issue of The Hollywood Reporter, out in Los Angeles and New York on Thursday, Keith Olbermann sat down with senior writer Marisa Guthrie in his first wide-ranging interview since leaving MSNBC on January 21 to talk about his rocky tenure and new path at Current TV. His new show, retaining the name Countdown with Keith Olbermann, debuts on June 20 on Current TV at 8 p.m., going up against his former time slot on MSNBC.
Wednesday, June 8, 2011 Swedish Study Shows Women Prefer Older Men (2 comments)
I was just curious about this. But in addition to this study, I found a blog which asked this question and to my surprise, virtually every woman said they preferred older men. I thought this would be of interest to OEN members who tend to be (we are told), childless men over 45...
Sunday, June 5, 2011 Indian Yogi Arrested for Protesting Against Corruption
Indian police fired tear gas early Sunday to break up a hunger strike by a charismatic yoga guru demanding an end to endemic corruption, forcibly removing him and thousands of his followers.
An ensuing stampede by angry, rock-throwing supporters of Baba Ramdev injured more than 60 people, including 23 police, said Dharmendra, a senior New Delhi police officer who uses one name.
Police said officers detained Ramdev, who has millions of followers across India, for security reasons.
"More than 40,000 people had turned up at the venue, and it was not possible to provide security to them," said Rajan Bhagat, a police spokesman in New Delhi.
Monday, May 23, 2011 Kindle's E-Book Sales Officially Surpass Print Books on Amazon (2 comments)
Sales of electronic books for Amazon's Kindle have now officially surpassed the sale of print books -- hardcover and paperback combined -- the e-commerce site announced Thursday. To date in 2011, Amazon has sold more than three times as many Kindle books as it did during this same period last year, the company reported in a statement.
Monday, May 23, 2011 The Demise of Both the GOP and Tea Party Begins
The following headline of hope and great joy was released by the Associated Press this past weekend, to the delight of most true Americans...
Democrat Surges in Poll Ahead of N.Y. Special Election.
Thursday, May 12, 2011 Democrats Increasingly Scared Of Angering Corporations, Survey Says
Democratic congressional staffers are increasingly wary of alienating corporate lobbyists for fear of inciting a massive advertising blitz against their bosses, according to an informal survey by the consumer watchdog group Public Citizen.
Tuesday, May 10, 2011 Another Good One: Official Cause of the Black Hawk Crash is "Warm Ground"
It took a while for all the details to emerge, but it appears the crash happened for one really surprising reason: The air on ground was much hotter than anticipated. That, combined with the high walls of the compound, created an air vortex that sucked the air right out from under the chopper. A mission that should have started with the U.S. Navy Seals rappelling into the yard instead began with a hard thud.
Monday, May 9, 2011 We'll Get Around to the Trillion Dollars When We're Good and Ready, Senator...
This is a high quality version of the Financial Services Subcommittee on Oversight and Investigations hearing of May 5, 2009.
Rep. Alan Grayson asks the Federal Reserve Inspector General about the trillions of dollars lent or spent by the Federal Reserve and where it went, and the trillions of off balance sheet obligations. Inspector General Elizabeth Coleman responds that the IG does not know and is not tracking where this money is.
Monday, May 2, 2011 When I was a Tadpole and You were a Fish
When I was a tadpole and you were a fish
In the Paleozoic time,
And side by side on the ebbing tide,
We sprawled through the ooze and slime,
Or skittered with many a caudal flip,
Through the depths of the Cambrian fen,
My heart was rife with the joy of life,
For I loved you even then.
Monday, May 2, 2011 Inside The Raid That "Killed" Bin Laden
Helicopters descended out of darkness on the most important counterterrorism mission in U.S. history. It was an operation so secret, only a select few U.S. officials knew what was about to happen.
Saturday, April 23, 2011 Super Brain Yoga
Hey: it's only three minutes a day...
Friday, April 22, 2011 Meet Project Peace Latinamerica
A friend of mine just started this organization, so I thought I'd help spread the word...:)
Wednesday, April 20, 2011 Nearly Half of US Households Pay No Income Tax
Still scrambling to file your taxes? You'll probably take little consolation in hearing that the super rich pay a lot less taxes than they did a couple of decades ago. And nearly half of U.S. households pay no income taxes at all.
Thursday, April 14, 2011 The Watkins Review Announces Its Spiritual 100 List
The Watkins Review is pleased to announce its list of the 100 Most Spiritually Influential Living People. The Spiritual 100 list ranks spiritual leaders and authors including the Dalai Lama (#2), Deepak Chopra (#5), Nelson Mandela (#19), the Pope (#34), and the best selling author Eckhart Tolle at #1. The spring issue features a full eleven pages highlighting each of these inspirational individuals.
Tuesday, April 5, 2011 Working Long Hours Is Bad For Your Heart
People who regularly work long hours may be significantly increasing their risk of developing heart disease, the world's biggest killer, British scientists said Monday.
Researchers said a long-term study showed that working more than 11 hours a day increased the risk of heart disease by 67 percent, compared with working a standard 7 to 8 hours a day.
Saturday, April 2, 2011 Bronx And Brooklyn Are Unhealthiest Counties In State, Manhattan Has Poor Mental Health
Looks like New York City might need a gym membership.
The Bronx and Brooklyn ranked, respectively, 62nd and 58th out New York's 62 counties in a recent study by The Robert Wood Johnson Foundation and the University of Wisconsin Population Health Institute that determines and ranks the nation's counties healthiness. Counties are ranked according to factors such as mortality rate, tobacco use, unsafe sex, diet, exercise and access to health care, NBC New york reports.
Saturday, March 26, 2011 Starbucks at 40: Java Juggernaut Branches Out (1 comments)
Starbucks, the java joint that sold America on grande-sized drinks while imprinting a venti-sized stamp on our national psyche, turns 40 this month. The world's largest coffee chain -- 17,000 locations in 55 countries -- made almost $11 billion last year by coaxing some 60 million customers a week to feel momentarily indulgent over a warm brew and a crumbly nosh.
Friday, March 25, 2011 Joseph Stiglitz: "New Ideas for a New World"
Stiglitz is a Nobel Prize winning economist who is generally considered to be one of, if not the most progressive economists on the scene right now.
Wednesday, March 23, 2011 Gaddafi, Moral Interventionism, Libya, and the Arab Revolutionary Moment
Long ago Qaddafi forfeited the legitimacy of his rule, creating the political conditions for an appropriate revolutionary challenge. Recently he has confirmed this assessment by referring to the disaffected portion of his own citizenry as "rats and dogs' or "cockroaches,' and employing the bloodthirsty and vengeful language of a demented tyrant. Such a tragically criminal imposition of political abuse on the Libyan experience is a painful reality that exists beyond any reasonable doubt, but does it validate a UN authorized military intervention carried out by a revived partnership of those old colonial partners, France and Britain, and their post-colonial American imperial overseer?
Thursday, March 17, 2011 "North Dakota Economy Booms, Population Soars"
North Dakota, the state with the nation's lowest unemployment rate, capped a decade of economic prosperity with dramatic population growth in its biggest cities.
Monday, March 14, 2011 Nearly 50% of Employees Have Considered Leaving Their Current Job
With Employee Appreciation Day approaching Friday, March 4, a new study released today by MarketTools, Inc., the leader in software and services for enterprise feedback management (EFM) and market research, revealed that most employees may not feel very appreciated. Nearly 50 percent of employees surveyed have considered leaving their current jobs, and 21 percent have applied for another job in the past six months. According to the study, salary was by far the leading cause of employee dissatisfaction, cited by 47 percent of the study participants. Other leading causes of dissatisfaction cited include workload (24 percent), lack of opportunities for advancement (21 percent), and the employee's manager or supervisor (21 percent).
Friday, March 11, 2011 Wisconsin Poll: Republican Enthusiasm Gap Vanishes
The poll released this past weekend by a conservative Wisconsin think tank did more than indicate a preference for compromise among Wisconsin adults. It also includes evidence that the enthusiasm gap favoring Republicans in Wisconsin in 2010 has vanished.
Friday, March 11, 2011 HuffPo: "Stop Kvetching. Self-Publishing Is Here To Stay -- And Vaulting Ahead"
Since the publication of my Huffington Post article on the merits of self-publishing in December 2010, I've received mostly positive -- and appreciative -- comments. But some friends and others in the traditional publishing world still dismiss self-publishing as a pesky second-class stepchild that they believe will always remain in that status -- and many wish it would just go away. They are unimpressed by recent developments that have ratcheted up the status of self-publishing: reviews of self-published books in Publishers Weekly and elsewhere, marketing and distribution services, listings in traditional distributors' catalogues, prospects for listings in foreign publishers' catalogues, and much more. Instead they focus on a single objection -- that self-publishing is a gateless portal that gives new meaning to the Cole Porter tune "Anything Goes."
Wednesday, March 9, 2011 "What Has the Internet Done for the Economy?"
Out of about 3,000 counties in the U.S., in only 163 did business adoption of Internet technologies correlate with wage and employment growth, the study found. All of these counties had populations above 150,000 and were in the top quarter of income and education levels before 1995.
Wednesday, March 9, 2011 NY Times: "Talk Doesn't Pay, So Psychiatry Turns Instead to Drug Therapy" (2 comments)
Like many of the nation's 48,000 psychiatrists, Dr. Levin, in large part because of changes in how much insurance will pay, no longer provides talk therapy, the form of psychiatry popularized by Sigmund Freud that dominated the profession for decades. Instead, he prescribes medication, usually after a brief consultation with each patient. So Dr. Levin sent the man away with a referral to a less costly therapist and a personal crisis unexplored and unresolved.
Saturday, February 26, 2011 Tim Geithner: Making the World Safe for Citicorp
In a recent interview, United States Treasury Secretary Tim Geithner laid out his view of the nature of world economic growth and the role of the US financial sector. It is a deeply disturbing vision, one that amounts to a huge, uninformed gamble with the future of the American economy -- and that suggests that Geithner remains the senior public official worldwide who is most in thrall to the self-serving ideology of big banks.
Wednesday, February 16, 2011 Russ Feingold Launches 'Progressives United' To Combat Corporate Influences In Politics (1 comments)
Launching on Wednesday, Progressives United is an attempt to to build a grassroots effort aimed at mitigating the effects of, and eventually overturning, the Supreme Court's infamous Citizens United decision that opened the floodgates to corporate spending in the U.S. electoral system. In addition to online mobilization, the political action committee (PAC) will support progressive candidates at the local, state and national levels, as well as holding the media and elected officials accountable on the group's key priorities.
Monday, February 14, 2011 Dr. Jon Kabat-Zinn (Howard Zinn's Son-in-Law) Speaks About the Importance of Meditation in Modern Life
Jon Kabat-Zinn is Professor of Medicine Emeritus and founding director of the Stress Reduction Clinic and the Center for Mindfulness in Medicine, Health Care, and Society at the University of Massachusetts Medical School. Kabat-Zinn was a student of Zen Master Seung Sahn and a founding member of Cambridge Zen Center. His practice of yoga and studies with Buddhist teachers, led him to integrate their teachings with those of Western science. He teaches mindfulness meditation as a technique to help people cope with stress, anxiety, pain and illness.
Sunday, February 13, 2011 Birth Anomaly Makes Doctors Question Their Understanding of the Human Brain
Chase was also born prematurely, and he was legally blind. When he was 1 year old, doctors did an MRI, expecting to find he had a mild case of cerebral palsy. Instead, they discovered he was completely missing his cerebellum -- the part of the brain that controls motor skills, balance and emotions.
"That's when the doctor called and didn't know what to say to us," Britton said in a telephone interview. "No one had ever seen it before. And then we'd go to the neurologists and they'd say, 'That's impossible.' 'He has the MRI of a vegetable,' one of the doctors said to us."
Wednesday, February 9, 2011 Public Optimism About the Economy at a Three-Year High (1 comments)
One of the factors that may be fueling President Obama's recent rise in job approval polls is that Americans are feeling better about the economy. New figures from Gallup, gathered from its January tracking surveys, found optimism about the economy at its highest since the pollster began tracking it in 2008.
Tuesday, February 8, 2011 Arianna Huffington on Huffpo's Merger with AOL
"I've used this space to make all sorts of important HuffPost announcements: new sections, new additions to the HuffPost team, new HuffPost features and new apps. But none of them can hold a candle to what we are announcing today."
Friday, February 4, 2011 "Raja Yoga" by Swami Vivekananda
Vivekananda was an important Indian teacher who came to this country just over a century ago and taught Hindu meditation practice and religious philosophy
Our reading comes from a series of lectures he gave, which then served as the Introduction to his translation of the Yoga Sutras by Patanjali (c. 150 CE). The book is entitled Raja Yoga (New York: Ramakrishna-Vivekananda Center, 1955).
Raja Yoga means the "discipline of meditation practice," as opposed to Hatha Yoga, which means the "discipline of physical stretching exercises."
Thursday, February 3, 2011 Chomsky: "This is the Most Remarkable Regional Uprising that I Can Remember" (7 comments)
Well, first of all, what's happening is absolutely spectacular. The courage and determination and commitment of the demonstrators is remarkable. And whatever happens, these are moments that won't be forgotten and are sure to have long-term consequences...
Thursday, February 3, 2011 Huffpo: UFO Viewed from Two Locations "If it's a Hoax...it's Very Well Done." (6 comments)
Dueling clips of a purported UFO hovering over Dome of the Rock, an Islamic shrine, on Jerusalem's Temple Mount, have created an online ruckus since surfacing online.
Not surprisingly, AOL is reporting on the blogosphere's ongoing debate over the legitimacy of the videos, which show round, bright objects hovering over the landmark's iconic dome before rocketing upwards. The videos, which include audio of the inspired reactions of spectators, were reportedly shot over the weekend.
Tuesday, February 1, 2011 "Goldstone's Legacy for Israel" by Naomi Klein (3 comments)
This essay is adapted from the introduction to The Goldstone Report: The Legacy of the Landmark Investigation of the Gaza Conflict (Nation Books).
Tuesday, February 1, 2011 Al Jazeera English Blacked Out Across Most Of U.S.
Other than in a handful of pockets across the U.S. - including Ohio, Vermont and Washington, D.C. - cable carriers do not give viewers the choice of watching Al Jazeera. That corporate censorship comes as American diplomats harshly criticize the Egyptian government for blocking Internet communication inside the country and as Egypt attempts to block Al Jazeera from broadcasting.
Friday, January 28, 2011 The Jazz Sutras
Lean and limber at age 72, Charles Lloyd was nonetheless tired one November morning in his hotel suite here. He was near the end of a demanding European tour with his quartet and scheduled to headline the Voll-Damm International Jazz Festival that night. Still, his eyes, which are most often obscured behind dark glasses on stage and in photos, were wide.
Wednesday, December 29, 2010 The Progressive Honor Roll of 2010
The year 2010 will not be remembered as a halcyon year for progressives. But in such years the truest believers and battlers stand out all the more clearly, and patterns are set for the victories of the years to come. Here, then, are the Most Valuable Progressives of 2010:
Monday, December 27, 2010 TIME Interviews Woody Allen
After all these years in therapy he now says he's never been neurotic? I once saw an interview in the 70s where he said he contemplated suicide 3x per day. And other actors who me t him during that period that he was so insecure he could bearly move & speak...
Sunday, December 26, 2010 Up Against the Empire: Celebrating the Rebel Jesus (1 comments)
The media distorted parts of Jesus' message right from the start. The Gospels, and the first generation of Jesus' followers, effectively altered or hid his more radical teachings, and what has been preached from a million pulpits and that we still get from many today is a gross distortion. Jesus was not preoccupied with individual "sin" but with systemic injustice, in opposition to the commercializing empire of his time.
Thursday, December 23, 2010 A Nazi Christmas: Peace on Earth and Good Will Towards Men?
The images are chilling, bordering on surreal: as World War II raged on December 18, 1941, Adolf Hitler presided over a Christmas party in Munich, Germany.
Monday, December 20, 2010 Newspapers in 2010: Another Bad Year, But the Bleeding Slows
Overall, circulation for newspapers in the U.S. declined 5 percent during the six months ended Sept. 30, according to the Audit Bureau of Circulations' Fas-Fax, the industry's semi-annual scorecard.
Saturday, December 18, 2010 The Atlantic: "The End of Men" (1 comments)
Earlier this year, women became the majority of the workforce for the first time in U.S. history. Most managers are now women too. And for every two men who get a college degree this year, three women will do the same. For years, women's progress has been cast as a struggle for equality. But what if equality isn't the end point? What if modern, postindustrial society is simply better suited to women?
Friday, December 17, 2010 "The White House is Doing Things They've Never Done for Tax Cuts"
"They're fighting on the hill tooth and nail to pass the START treaty," ... "The White House is doing things they've never done for tax cuts. They're pounding the pavement. They're twisting arms. They're calling out Republicans."
Friday, December 17, 2010 Federal Government Cuts Off Recession Relief Money To States
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Email Comments 102 Despite soaring unemployment and the 19 million Americans currently living in "deep poverty," federal funds for the Temporary Assistance For Needy Families (TANF) program have entirely dried up for the first time since 1996, leaving states with an average of 15 percent less federal funding for the coming year to help an ever-increasing number of needy families.
Thursday, December 16, 2010 Record Number Of Eagles In Sanctuary Hints At Species Comeback (1 comments)
Bird-watchers at a ridgetop preserve in eastern Pennsylvania counted a record number of migrating bald eagles this fall, another sign of the species' remarkable comeback following a century of decline.
Wednesday, December 15, 2010 NYT: Was There "Something" Before the Big Bang...The Sequel (1 comments)
Last month a pair of physicists startled the world by claiming that they had managed to see through the Big Bang and glimpse evidence of previous incarnations of the universe in an analysis of radio signals from the sky.
Wednesday, December 15, 2010 Hanna Rosin: "New Data on the Rise of Women"
Hanna Rosin reviews startling new data that shows women actually surpassing men in several important measures, such as college graduation rates. Do these trends, both US-centric and global, signal the "end of men"? Probably not -- but they point toward an important societal shift worth deep discussion
Tuesday, December 14, 2010 New York Times: Was There "Something" Before the Big Bang? (6 comments)
Roger Penrose, the eminent British mathematician, is arguing that there is physical evidence that may predate the Big Bang. In a recent paper, he and his co-author, the physicist V. G. Gurzadyan, describe a pattern of concentric circles detected against the universal backdrop of cosmic microwave radiation generated by the Big Bang. These circles, they say, may be gravitational waves...
Monday, December 13, 2010 Ralph Nader: "Obama is a Con Man. I Have No Use for Him."
Nader had harsh words for the president's approach to politics: "He has no fixed principles. He's opportunistic -- he goes for expedience, like Clinton. Some call him temperamentally conflict-averse. If you want to be harsher, you say he has no principles and he's opportunistic.
"He's a con man. I have no use for him," Nader said.
Saturday, December 11, 2010 Ted Turner: "I'm Almost to the Edge of Poverty" (1 comments)
Ted Turner said he has given so much of his money away that he is "almost to the edge of poverty."
Speaking on Wednesday's "Morning Joe," Turner said he has, at most, a few million dollars left (not exactly everyone's definition of poverty, but a far cry from his purported billionaire status.)
Saturday, December 11, 2010 "The Buddha Wasn't a Buddhist" by Dzogchen Ponlop Rinpoche
In any case, we still have to live our lives and face up to how we're going to do it. We can't escape having a "philosophy of life," because we're challenged every day to choose one action over another -- kindness or indifference, generosity or selfishness, patience or blame.
Tuesday, December 7, 2010 Self-Publishing Offers No Hassle and Big Potential Profits. Is It For You?
Getting it out or writing the book is not the major issue for most authors. Historically, though, the big question for authors has been, "Will my book get published?" But now, with the surge of an explosively growing self-publishing industry, the question is not will it get published but "Will I land my book with a prestigious or even not so prestigious, traditional publisher, or will I go the self-publishing route?"
Monday, December 6, 2010 WikiLeaks Lawyer Threatens Massive Release of Files (1 comments)
Julian Assange's lawyer has warned that supporters of the WikiLeaks founder will unleash a "thermonuclear device" of government files containing the names of spies, sources and informants if he's killed or brought to trial.
Saturday, December 4, 2010 The Big Economic Story, and Why Obama Isn't Telling It (1 comments)
Quiz: What's responsible for the lousy economy most Americans continue to wallow in?
President Obama and House Minority Leader John Boehner. "Unless the President and Democrats explain why the economy still stinks for most Americans and offer a plan to fix it, the Republican explanation and solution --" it's big government's fault, and all we need do is shrink it --" will prevail," argues Robert Reich.
Sunday, November 21, 2010 The 100: A Ranking of the Most Influential Persons in History
The 100: A Ranking of the Most Influential Persons in History
Revised and Updated for the Nineties
by Michael H. Hart
Mr. Hart's very interesting book contains biographies of all the following people, ranked in order from most influential to less influential, along with the author's reasons for so ranking them.
Friday, November 12, 2010 41% of Americans Can't Name the Vice-President of the United States (1 comments)
Domenico Montanaro writes: In a new Pew poll, just about six-in-10 (59%) could correctly identify Joe Biden as the current vice president in an open-ended question.
